Essays on Oedipus

Before Oedipus became king of the city Thebes, Thebes was controlled by the Sphinx. The only way the Sphinx will leave is if someone solved the riddle, but if they incorrectly answered, they were killed. Oedipus saved Thebes by solving the riddle and was honored to be king. During Oedipus’ ruling, a plague was going…

Characters sometimes feel the need to take control of destiny, and it does not always go in their favor. Many of them want to feel the power that they can change fate. Believing that you can beat the odds and that you have the power to change prophecies leads to becoming a tragic flaw. An…

A tragic hero is a character who makes a judgement error that eventually leads to their downfall. Oedipus is an example about a tragic hero. The play is about a tragic hero, Oedipus. He did not have control over his fate, since he was prophesied from birth. When he was an infant, an prophet prophesied…

At the end of Sophocles classic greek tragedy, Oedipus Rex, the main character, Oedipus, responds to his unfortunate discovery in a masochistic, yet predictable manner. Upon learning of his accidental patricide and incest, Oedipus gouges his own eyes out with the pins from his mother’s dress. This self-inflicted injury, intended to blind Oedipus, is foreshadowed…

Oedipus the King is an excellent example of Aristotle’s theory of tragedy. The play contains an ideal tragic plot that consists of paripeteia, anagnorisis and catastrophe. This play is also distinguished for having the ideal tragic character that suffers from happiness to misery due to hamartia and the play combines compassion and fear that produces…

Blindness can refer to a literal and explicit meaning which both lead to the same definition, without vision. It limits the understanding of many by clouding their thoughts and leads to the idea of only seeing the tip of an iceberg, rather than what’s underneath the surface. In Oedipus Rex, written by Sophocles, the main…

Protagonists, Oedipus of Sophocles’ “Oedipus the King” and Odysseus of Homer’s “The Odyssey,” endure various hardships and exhibit certain qualities that allow us to classify these men as heroes. Oedipus is the of a tragedy and Odysseus of an epic. Despite being different genres and having drastically different outcomes, both share a plethora of similarities….

One of the most well known aspects of the golden Greek culture is the plays and poetry that express the values or norms of the ancient population. However, they are commonly referred to as Greek Epics, or Greek Tragedies. Common examples of such pieces of literature could be Odysseus, Gilgamesh, and King Oedipus. Oedipus was…

One of the most interesting and tragic ideas about reading Oedipus by Sophocles is that we know what Oedipus does not. We know that he killed his father. The idea of fate, or fulfilling a prophecy is complicated in this story. Oedipus, has no control of this story line, and could no way have changed…

Sophocles Oedipus is a perfect model of the human potential to achieve godlike greatness despite his tragic downfall. Before his fate is revealed, pride, impiety, and ignorance bring his own nemesis, yet because of the remarkable intelligence, courage, and leadership skills he displays in dealing with calamity Oedipus ultimately reveals how one’s spirit can become…